The Wise and Wonderful People

Sunday, April 22, 2012

This is the fun part! With probably at least two years of scrimping & saving to afford land, Heidi and I have lots of time to plan and research and dream! The simple picture above is a product of my thoughts lately. The layout and details are way off from what the likely end result will be, but some of the basic pieces are there. I really am getting into the idea of "Auquaponics"! Healthy, nummy fishies and organic vegetables from one efficient system, whats not to love?!!

The dome greenhouse is another concept I have been digging into as I really think it is the perfect home for a nice AP system. That funny looking grid thingy on the right is an idea I have been wanting to experiment with for capturing the heat of compost to heat water. That isn't an original idea as many people are doing it successfully already, but it is something I want to try on a very small scale to see if it will work for helping heat the greenhouse in winter. We have many sources of compost here to experiment with, perhaps even this summer. Should be interesting!

Wind power is another topic that will likely see some "pre-land" experimenting. Dad's ranch may just end up a bit greener if he is up for it! Combined with solar(PV etc) and conservation, I really believe we can comfortably go without any connection to the grid on the future homestead.

I realize I haven't mentioned much about the main living quarters & "docking station". Both are topics for future posts for sure! I will say that so far, cob construction is in the lead but nothing is decided yet of course. I better also say that this post is mostly about some of my ideas, Heidi supports them but also has a ton of really great plans of her own for our future home.

When it all comes down to it though, planning is fun, but none of us knows what will happen tomorrow. Having something to reach for is good for the spirit though! Now I really just need to get into shape!

Hi Mike & Gerri, I may enjoy the planning part even more than the doing! I have always been into designing an engineering stuff and this new homestead goal is giving me lots of fun things to work with for sure! Glad you are following along, we can learn stuff together :)

Hi Peter! One of the coolest things about Aquaponics systems is the symbiotic way the fish provide the nutrients for the plants in their wastes and the plants filter the water for the fish. Most basic AP systems don't require additional filtration. Some do add it for specific variations, but more often than not, it isn't necessary! Very cool stuff! I plan to do some much more detailed posts on it in the future of course.

It is definitely wonderful to have a thrilling project to work on! Gets the mind going!

Welcome to Vantramps!

My wife and I are still very much "Vanbassadors" Even though we are planning future changes to our lifestyle. Our 97 Roadtrek 170P is likely always going to be my favorite project and I have a ton of new mods planned for it! Our future homestead and land goals are full of ideas that will work for the mobile lifestyle and the "docking station" is going to combine the best parts of both! Stick around and lets see what fun we can share!

If you have a related site and want to exchange link listing, let us know! Of course we encourage everyone to be one of our "Wise and Wonderful People" :)